IPD, IBE students shine at "March Madness"

Two teams of Lehigh students were chosen to display their new products at a recent national exhibit of student entrepreneurs at the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, Calif.

Tim Marks '04, an environmental engineering major, and Patrick Clasen '04 (materials science and engineering) exhibited a reef aquarium-maintenance system that they designed and built over the last two years. The two students, who have formed a company called Eco-Tech Marine, have created the Easy-Ionizer, a tool for maintaining calcium and alkalinity levels in aquariums.

Six students demonstrated a Glow Friends High-Tech Friendship Bracelet that they designed. They were Jon Hjelte '04, a computer technology major in the integrated business and engineering (IBE) program; Adam Kornfield '05 (IBE); Cory Mingelgreen '04 (industrial engineering); Michael Casarella '04 (mechanical engineering); Andrew Buschmeier, a Ph.D. candidate in electrical engineering; and David Luksenberg, a graduate student in computer engineering.

Marks and Clasen did their work through the Integrated Product Development (IPD), in which teams of engineering, business and arts students spend one year designing, fabricating and marketing a new product for a sponsoring company.

The Glow Friends students did their work as part of IBE's required senior design project, in which multidisciplinary teams of students use engineering and business problem-solving skills to learn first-hand about product development, marketing, strategic planning, competitive analysis, and system design.

The two Lehigh teams were among 15 "E-Teams" nationwide selected to travel to San Jose to take part in the annual "March Madness for the Mind." The event was held in connection with eighth annual national conference of the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA). The "E" stands for excellence and entrepreneurship.

Both Lehigh teams received grants from NCIIA, an interdisciplinary educational organization that promotes the teaching of invention, innovation and entrepreneurship at colleges around the U.S.

The faculty advisers for both teams were Todd Watkins, associate professor of economics, and John Ochs, professor of mechanical engineering and mechanics.

The Glow Friends electronic friendship bracelet, one of few high-tech toys designed for young girls, is made of two layers of polyurethane that adjust like a watch strap. A heart-shaped rhinestone center glows when the bracelet is on. Along the band are six additional rhinestones with light-emitting diodes inside of each. Girls can synchronize their bracelets with each other. When a "synchronized" friend gets within 300 feet of a bracelet wearer, a rhinestone on her bracelet glows every thirty seconds. As the friend grows closer, the rhinestone glows brighter. The six light-emitting rhinestones can recognize up to six friends.